WESTFORD -- A group of about 10 concerned residents showed up at Tuesday's Board of Selectmen meeting, adamant they not lose their beloved field off Pleasant Street to a cement parking lot.

The Cameron Senior Center requested a 28-space parking lot be placed over an open field in the rear of its complex, which currently houses a small public baseball field and a basketball court off to the side. Center staff and members of the Council on Aging say the current lot, with about 60 spaces, is too small and often forces visitors to walk far to get to activities.

Some abutters to the site were angry and insisted the green space is a community staple, used daily by families and children in the neighborhood.

"The cars, if they need to, park there in the grass," said Paul Rosenfield, a direct abutter to the field. "It's a good place for nature and it's multi-purpose. It benefits everybody and it's not an eyesore."

Ultimately, the board voted 4-1 to refer the matter to the Northern Middlesex Council of Government for a possible solution or compromise. Only Selectman Valerie Wormell voted against that measure.

Tom Tomasello, who lives in Rosenfield's building nearby, said he uses the field and court every day with his son, while Stan and Cheryl Kolodziej, who said they recently moved to Pleasant Street, said they haven't seen the center's parking lot fill up that often.

"As soon as we heard about an extension, we have been eagle-eyed on that parking lot.

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..," Cherly Kolodziej said. "There is absolutely no need for expansion. I hope you will put up a webcam and watch every day as we've been doing."

Police Capt. Mark Chambers said he has been keeping an eye on the center at the request of Council on Aging Director Joanne Sheehan. Chambers said so far this year he has documented 19 incidents of overflow in the parking lot.

Council on Aging Chairwoman Helena "Mickey" Crocker told selectmen she didn't want to fight over a parking lot but that this is an ongoing problem for the elderly that needs to be addressed. Chambers said he also didn't want to get involved in a "turf war."

"We have a charge to take care of the seniors. If we get a complaint, we can't ignore them...," Crocker said. "We're trying to please everybody and everybody knows that's impossible."

Sheehan initially asked the proposal for the expanded lot be brought before the Permanent Town Building Committee for consideration but selectmen questioned whether that was the proper procedure. Town Engineer Paul Starratt also assisted the group in laying out the lot proposal for selectmen.

Selectmen Andrea Peraner-Sweet and Wormell said in their review of the parking-lot proposal they felt an obligation to local residents to deny the request. They said the issue had been raised before and the lot would have a significant impact on neighbors.

Selectmen Chairman Kelly Ross asked Tom Mahanna, chairman of the building committee, to also weigh in before the proposal was pushed off the table. Mahanna said he didn't disagree with the council's assessment of the problem, where Sheehan said some senior citizens have to park far away and walk long distances, especially in the winter.

"It's a sensitive subject," Mahanna noted, "and it's been a sensitive subject since day one of this project."

Some residents shook their heads in disagreement as Mahanna said the Parks and Recreation Department does not use the Pleasant Street baseball field often. Some said what mattered is that residents used the space.

In other business:

* Town Manager Jodi Ross recommended Acting Fire Chief Joe Targ be promoted to interim chief, effective today. Targ was asked to step in after Chief Richard Rochon announced his retirement last week, and attending firefighters applauded when Targ was officially appointed.

* Chairman Ross insisted the town would not go bankrupt, opening the meeting by criticizing an editorial in The Sun that compared the town's future, with an estimated $24.6 million deficit on the horizon, to Detroit's current fiscal crisis. (See his letter to the editor on Page 9.) Ross submitted a suggested outline and overview for moving ahead. The outline was not provided before or during the meeting, and Wormell insisted it be put online as soon as possible.

* The committee tasked with reviewing whether the town should "go green" and pursue the state Green Communities Designation and Grant Program informed selectmen it is now recommending the town go forward with that initiative.

* A public hearing was held on a "Craft Beer Cellar" store coming to town, which already operates locations in Winchester and Belmont. Beer Geek, LLC owner Walter Miska's request was unanimously accepted by the board.

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